West Haven High School
Encyclopedia
West Haven High School is a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 located in West Haven
West Haven, Connecticut
West Haven is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 52,721.-History:...

, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, which educates students in grades 9–12. The mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

 of West Haven is the Blue Devil.

Administration and Campus

As of July 1, 2009, the school principal is Pamela Gardner. Her predecessor, Ronald Stancil, Sr., served as principal for ten years. West Haven High School enrolls about 1,800 students each year even though it was only designed for 1,500, in contrast to the state average of 524.4.

The current campus opened in the mid-1960s at 1 Circle Street (also known as McDonough Plaza). Its previous location was the Dr. Carl C. Gianotti Jr. High School on Main Street, a building now used as a residential complex. Before that, it was on the corner of Center Street and Union Avenue, a building since used as a grammar school and senior housing.

Academics

West Haven High School offers various non-core courses, including automotives, wood shop, metal shop, photography, graphic arts, drafting, video production, academics, art, and music courses. Among its notable programs are the Theater Workshop, Dr. JoAnn Andrees Pillow Time Theatre and, in music, Marching and Concert Bands, Bel Canto,Camerata and Concert Choir. Its chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 team has won ten state championships and the school also has a successful mock trial
Mock trial
A Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...

 team.

Athletics

West Haven High School athletic facilities include Ken Strong Stadium (an artificial turf football field and track), an enclosed ice skating rink, indoor gymnasium and swimming pool, tennis courts, baseball and softball fields. The Blue Devils soccer and lacrosse teams utilize the Ken Strong field. West Haven High is part of the Southern Connecticut Conference
Southern Connecticut Conference
The Southern Connecticut Conference is a high school athletics conference in Connecticut. The conference comprises schools located along the Long Island Sound...

, Quinnipiac Division, for athletics. In wrestling, they share a co-op team with Platt Regional Vocational Technical School which competes in the Constitution State Conference.
  • 1968 Football, State Championship, Team ranked 1st in Conn. (New Haven Register Sportswriters Poll, 9-0, Class LL), 4th in the United States (National Sports News Service Poll).
  • 1972 Football, State Championship, Team ranked 1st in Conn. (New Haven Register Sportswriters Poll, 10-0, Class LL)
  • 1986, 1987, 1989 Football, Class L State Championships, under the leadership of Coach Ed "Applehead" McCarthy.
  • 2002 Football, Class LL State Championship, also under Ed "Applehead" McCarthy, Team ranked 1st in Conn. (New Haven Register Sportswriters Poll, 12-0, Class LL)
  • 2003 Football, Class LL Semifinals Winner (Lost to New Britain in the Championship)
  • 2009 Wrestling, CSC Championship Runners-up (4-0)
  • 1984 Baseball, Class LL State Championship. The team defeated Crosby High High School 7-4 to capture the title.
  • 2009 Baseball, Class LL State Championship. The team defeated Brian McMahon High School 1-0 to win

Note: 1976 was the first year of CIAC football playoffs; 1968 and 1972 Championships are unofficial.
  • 1994 Division I State Champions in Ice Hockey
  • 1990 Division I State Champions in Ice Hoceky defeating Greenwich 4-0
  • 1988 Division I State Champions in Ice Hockey

Notable alumni

  • Ulish Booker
    Ulish Booker
    Ulish Booker is an offensive tackle who last played in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers.Ulish began his football career in West Haven, Connecticut, playing for West Haven High School where he made the All-State team. He went on to play college football for Michigan State University, and he was...

    , professional football player, won a World Bowl
    World Bowl
    The World Bowl was the American football Championship game of NFL Europe, similar to the Super Bowl of the National Football League.The World Bowl trophy itself was a globe made of glass measuring 35.5 cm in diameter and weighing 18.6 kg .-World League of American Football:When NFL Europe was...

     with the Amsterdam Admirals
    Amsterdam Admirals
    The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team in NFL Europe based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.-History:The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to be based entirely in Europe...

     of NFL Europe
    NFL Europe
    NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007. Backed by the National Football League , the largest professional American football league in the United States, it was founded as the World League of American Football to serve as a type of spring league...

     in 2005. He was signed by the NFL
    National Football League
    The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

     Pittsburgh Steelers
    Pittsburgh Steelers
    The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

     in 2006 but did not play because of injury, then was released in 2007.
  • Melanie Chartoff
    Melanie Chartoff
    Melanie Chartoff is an American actress. Among her most prominent roles are her voice role in Rugrats, her comedic work on the ABC series Fridays from 1980–1982, and on the early 1990s Fox sitcom Parker Lewis Can't Lose....

    , actress and inventor; best known for providing the voice of Didi Pickles in the animated series Rugrats
    Rugrats
    Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....

    .
  • Jim Greco
    Jim Greco
    Jim Greco is a professional skateboarder. He currently resides in downtown Los Angeles.Greco has appeared in videos such as Zero's "Misled Youth", "Baker Bootleg, "Baker 2G", "Baker 3" and "Baker Has A Deathwish"....

    , Professional Skateboarder
  • Patrick Earl Hammie
    Patrick Earl Hammie
    Patrick Earl Hammie is an American painter best known for monumental portraits that adopt body language and narrative to reinvent and remix ideal beauty and heroic nudity.-Early life:...

    , contemporary American figurative artist
  • Rob Jackson
    Rob Jackson (American football)
    Robert Gene Jackson is an American football linebacker for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Redskins in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He was cut from the team on September 4, 2010...

    , NFL linebacker with the Washington Redskins
    Washington Redskins
    The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

     since 2008.
  • Ken Strong
    Ken Strong
    Elmer Kenneth Strong, Jr. was a college and professional American football player. After a college career as multi-year All-American at New York University, he went on to play professional football. As a halfback with a 14-year career he played from 1929–1937, 1939, 1944-1947...

    , professional football player, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
    Pro Football Hall of Fame
    The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

     in 1967.

Miscellaneous

  • In addition to the computer lab in the library, the school has a second computer lab, called CyberCafe, inside its cafeteria where students can study (food is not allowed in the CyberCafe).
  • Each of the school's sporting facilities is named for an alumnus.
  • The school's foreign language department offers courses in Spanish, French, and Italian.
  • The school's slogan is "Westie Pride is on Our Side!"
  • After graduation, the school sponsors an all-night, substance-free celebration for the outgoing Senior class, called "Blue and White...Up All Night!" and "Project Graduation
    Project Graduation
    Project Graduation is a program offered by many high schools in the United States, in which organized, adult-supervised and alcohol-free activities are offered as part of a post-graduation party, in lieu of student-run events with alcohol or drugs. Events often last through the night and are held...

    ", at the Jewish Community Center in Woodbridge, CT

External links

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